Brazile: Gun control a long time coming

The headlines said President Barack Obama has “taken on the gun lobby.” Actually, he has taken on our culture of violence, including the violent rhetoric that accompanies any attempt to alter it.

“If Americans of every background stand up and say, enough; we’ve suffered too much pain and care too much about our children to allow this to continue — then change will come,” Obama told the nation. From what wisdom I’ve acquired in 50 years, he’s right. Change requires the will and the effort to cause change. Do we have it in us?

According to the UPI, in February the U.S. Senate will take up a bill to deal with gun violence. Finally, we are having a national conversation about how to reduce mass killings and what actions we can take to save lives one at a time.

Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, told National Public Radio, “I think it’s great that we’re having this conversation today, and this day is a long time coming.”

For 11,478 Americans in 2012, including 20 schoolchildren and six adults in Newtown, it comes too late. It comes too late for Gabby Giffords, whose life was permanently altered by a madman’s bullet. It comes too late for James Brady, the former White House press secretary who was severely handicapped by Ronald Reagan’s would-be assassin.

Giffords and Brady, who turned 72 this year, lead gun-control organizations. They remind us it’s not just those the bullets have killed who matter. The wounded matter. The survivors matter. The families matter.

In fact, our national character matters. Our Declaration of Independence states that among our inalienable rights are “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Gun violence — the culture that fosters it and the rhetoric that praises it — deprives us of those rights.

Obama’s news conference struck the right balance between the “individual right” reading of the Second Amendment and the Constitution’s mandate to “provide for the general welfare.” The president acknowledged the controversy and respected the concerns of all parties involved, then, in addition to proposing legislation to reinstate the ban on assault weapons, immediately signed 23 executive orders. Some facilitate background checks of potential gun buyers, making it easier for gun dealers to be part of the solution. Some provide resources to schools, facilitating the hiring of a security guard or mental health counselor.

These mostly administrative directives, well within the president’s power to direct the operation of existing federal programs, were based on common sense and represented consensus. They were the result of broad-based conversations and represent the will of the people.

But many on the right want to use our national conversation about gun violence as yet another opportunity to demonize Obama. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said Obama has a “king complex,” although he’s issued fewer executive orders than any president in 100 years.

The NRA, in particular, has let the dogs out. It produced an Internet ad that attacked Obama for allowing his daughters to have Secret Service protection, which is federally mandated. Mike Barnicle, appearing on the MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” broadcast, called it “pornographic.” Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the co-hosts of the show, were so stunned and horrified by the ad, they were speechless for several seconds.

New regulations and laws alone won’t stop all gun violence and protect all our schools and children.

But clearly, more needs to be done. The president’s proposals include universal background checks, banning assault weapons and capping magazine capacity. But they also include funding for police, for research on gun violence, for school counseling and for security. He wants to both strengthen gun tracking and promote safe gun ownership. Several directives also address the national mental health crisis and its intersection with gun violence.

No program will be 100 percent perfect. Columbine, Colo., had armed guards in the school. Shooters in Aurora, Colo., and at Virginia Tech were on mental health officials’ radar, but deaths still happened.

But because we can’t do everything doesn’t mean we should do nothing. The “right to bear arms” is not absolute, as even the NRA acknowledges.

It is time we stop the personal attacks, stop the paranoia, and work together to protect the rights of our children — beginning with the right to grow into adulthood.

Donna Brazile is a senior Democratic strategist, a political commentator and contributor to CNN and ABC News.

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Here we go with the children again & I want money to ck out why people do dumb things hell we know why they are nuts new blame on the NRA dud not the NRA ask to put guns it schools so people could fight back its not gun control it is total control (I like that one guns)

To compare gun control to abortion is like apples and oranges......and btw how many of those 57 million were you going to help support dml823 or were you just going to complain about what a drain on the system they were????

This is not a woman's choice or life at conception issue....it's about the threat that little kids running around on a playgrounds at school and neighborhood parks with not a care in the world will no longer be free to do that!!!

if jmav and olskoolmama can have their way. Fortunately their gene pool is small and the gutless wonders that are wanting to give away their rights don't make much of a difference. If the smelly stuff hits the fan, they will be hiding with old J.P. in some bunker.

Seems to me we have enough gun laws on the books. Some say we have possibly 20,000 gun laws on the books. I don't see where more gun laws are going to do any good and I also don't see Feinstein's bill gaining much traction in the House. Now, I know this administration doesn't follow or believe in the Constitution, but it still takes both houses of Congress to make law.

And although I have my own middle of the road views on it, I do find it hypocritical that the Dems are arguing for the safety of children on the one hand but are still in favor of abortion on the other. Wait, what am I saying!! Democrat is Latin for "hypocrite" and Swahili for "Liar". Sorry, my bad.

This sounds something like a person during Noah's time saying that the rain wouldn't last long. Apparently folks just can't see what's clearly in front of them regardless of how much tragedy has gone on before.

I see a lot of parallel thinking between those opposing gun control and those supporting reproductive freedom. And that being people fearing legislation (or government) that chips away at personal freedoms or rights. Also, both issues question an individual right to privacy even in life vs death situations.